For the finale concert of MEC’s 79th season, we offer a pairing of rarely performed works by the American mavericks Meredith Monk and Julius Eastman. Eastman’s Femenine was described by the New York Times as “a longing, tender, grandly unruffled 70-minute masterpiece that takes its place at the pinnacle of the Eastman works that have survived,” and Monk’s storied career as a vocalist, composer, dancer, choreographer and filmmaker has influenced luminaries from Bruce Nauman to Jean-Luc Godard. The towering pianists Ursula Oppens and Gloria Cheng join us to present selections from Monk’s solo and duo piano catalogue. Eastman and Monk, who were colleagues in real life, are reunited in spirit in our season finale.

Along with the musique concrète pioneers Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry, Éliane Radigue is one of the legendary figures in the landscape of electronic music. Although her works have frequently pushed the limits of what was thought possible with electronic sound, she eventually transitioned into writing solely acoustic works in the most recent decade of her storied career. Despite her iconic status, her works have rarely been heard in Los Angeles. MEC presents a concert honoring a living legend.